Sunday, December 16, 2012

Years ago, my mom was Miss Crafty! She was constantly making or stitching something, and oftentimes, I was her trusty assistant. Today, I'm sharing with you a tutorial on how you can make these Christmas Present Placemats--fun, holiday inspired placemats that look like a Christmas present all wrapped up!

Saturday, December 15, 2012

Today you are in for a special treat! I'd like you to meet my dear friend, RaeAnna, from Sewing Mama RaeAnna. She is such a sweet person who always has a smile on her face. Her appliqued t-shirts and outfits inspired me to purchase my own embroidery machine, and she has been so supportive and helpful when I've had problems using it! Thanks, RaeAnna!

I've invited her to stop by and share with you one of her latest projects--Boutique Bows decorated with Felties! And without further ado, here is RaeAnna!

Hello SewVery friends! I am soooooooooo thrilled to be Veronica's very first guest poster! woo hoo!!!

I first started following Veronica when she did Shorts on the Line. It didn't take us long to become friends in real life! We have had so much fun getting together for playdates!! Our 3 year olds are so cute when they play together! My son lights up when I tell him we are going to go see Ella!

And I'm still glad she's my friend after witnessing my 3 year old's tantrums. Aren't our kids supposed to know that they are supposed to act like angels all the time! haha!

I get so excited and passionate about sewing and I love that I have a blog to "let it all out!" It's been fun to get to know other like minded moms and learn new sewing tricks from each other!

My latest craft obsession uses my embroidery machine to make felties!!! I'm still learning about my embroidery machine - it's so much fun to see the adorable designs on the clothes and t-shirts I make for my kids! And you know what looks great with cute clothes and t-shirts.......BOWS! :)

I've posted a tutorial on my page today on how you can create your own boutique bow using the techniques I've found most successful. But before you come over to my page, please enter the contest here at sewVery for a chance to win a set of feltie characters for your own bows!! The winner will receive 2 owl felties and 2 heart felties! You can also earn an extra entry for liking our Facebook Pages!

Aren't these felties and boutique bows just adorable?! RaeAnna was so sweet and gave Ella one to wear during the holidays. I'll admit, I've never made a boutique bow, but after checking out RaeAnna's tutorial, I will now! Her tutorial shows you very clearly how to put it all together!

And while you are visiting over at Sewing Mama RaeAnna, you might as well check out a few of her other tutorials and projects. RaeAnna makes adorable outfits not only for her children, but also to sell!

I just love this birthday outfit she made for her daughter's first birthday! Eva Mae is just too cute!

I'm so glad you came for a visit today, RaeAnna! Stop by again anytime!

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

I've been making a few ornaments this week to decorate the tree and to add a little something extra to wrapped presents, and I thought I'd share the idea with you! Today, learn how to make a sewVery Simple Santa Hat Ornament with my quick and easy tutorial!

Here's what you'll need to get whip up one or a few dozen of these fun little Santa hat ornaments:

After you've gathered all the supplies listed above, print out the pattern piece from my Craftsy pattern shop (affiliate link).

Next, lay out your fabric and batting so it looks like the picture below.

Then place your pattern piece on top, pin in place, and cut out the two pieces of fabric and batting all in one step. You can cut out multiple sets without much waste by flipping the pattern over and lining up the edge with the previously cut out piece.

Once you get your pieces all cut out, pin them together.

Now you are ready to stitch the pieces together. You may use a walking foot if you have one to help prevent the fabric from creeping, but it's not necessary. I didn't bother using mine because I'll cut off any irregularities when I pink the edges for the final ornament.

Pink the edges.

Cut a piece of twine or ribbon 5" long and fold in half. Place the cut edges on the backside at the top of the Santa hat and tack down with a few machine stitches.

Then take your piece of comfy or minky fabric and rough cut a 1" circle. Center the circle over the top point of the Santa hat and tack it down with a couple of machine stitches. If you are well coordinated, you could take down the twine and the circle at the same time! I opted to do them separately, but that's just me.

Now take your jumbo ric rac and cut a piece long enough to cover the bottom edge of the Santa hat. Use your pinking shears to cut the edges to help prevent the ric rac from fraying. Sew the ric rac over the bottom edge making sure to cover up the bottom of the fabric.

That's it! In an hour's time, I sewed together well over a dozen of these adorable Santa Hat Ornaments. My kids loved putting them on the tree, but I managed to save a few to put on Christmas presents for teachers and friends.

This tutorial if for personal use only and it may not be reproduced or copied in part or whole without my expressed written consent.

Monday, December 3, 2012

On the last Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Day held back in May, I held a second contest so that international readers could enter a chance to win something from me as well. It was such a success, I decided to do it again!

Last time I participated, I thought the two contests I held were very successful. I received some great comments as entries, and I discovered lots of blogs to follow for inspiration and ideas! I think I even won a contest myself. What fun!

Today, this contest is open to US Residents only and includes some of the swag I received from the Sewing Summit this past October. I will pick two winners.

One winner will receive the following Ruby Star Wrappings book filled with great ideas to make the gift wrapping even more special than the gift itself, plus a a paper pattern from Indygo Junction for the Urban Prairie Dress.

The second winner will receive this package of quilting patterns, two spools of quilting thread, a copy of Generation Q magazine, Mollie Makes magazine, and Stitch-Craft-Create Magazine.

Details on how to enter are shown below. Please be sure to follow the instructions and to leave a comment to qualify!

Saturday, December 1, 2012

Christmas in my family has always
included making homemade ornaments, decorations, gifts, and treats that we
share with friends and family. When I
was little, my mother and I would scour the pages of magazines to find
inspiration for our latest projects. One of my favorite DIY ideas that my mom
and I crafted together is this Christmas Tree Tabletop Decoration.

For this project, you will need the
following:

First, begin by cutting out
approximately 100 - 1” wide by 6” long strips of fabric (for my example I had
25 each of 4 coordinating fabrics).Next,
pick out 4 ribbons or trims (you’ll need a spool of each) that are ¼” – 3/8”
wide that coordinate with the fabrics, and cut 50 pieces that are 5” long and
another 50 pieces that are 4” long.

Using the hot glue gun, carefully apply
a small dab of glue to the end of one of the fabric strips. Press the ends
together forming a loop. Do this for all
the fabric and ribbon strips.

Using a measuring tape or ruler, measure
3” up from the bottom of the Styrofoam cone and make a small mark using a
Sharpie.Continue marking 1” – 2”
increments up the cone.Repeat this all
around the cone so that you now have a grid for guidance in evenly placing the
fabric/ribbon rows.

Now cut 6 pieces of ½” wide white
grosgrain ribbon to the following lengths:

12 ¾”, 11 ½”, 10 ¼”, 9”, 7 ¾”, and 6
½”. These ribbon strips will be the
foundation for each row of the Christmas tree.

Starting with the longest piece of
grosgrain ribbon, lay out the fabric loops in the desired pattern adjusting the
space between the strips as needed. Glue
each fabric loop to the white grosgrain ribbon then glue the ribbon loops on
top of each fabric loop. Complete each
ribbon strip the same way.

Now you are ready to assemble the
Christmas tree. Starting with the bottom
row and using the markings on the cone as a guide, begin securing the ribbon
strip onto the cone with floral pins or straight pins.

Continue pinning the ribbon strips to
the cone so that the bottom edge of the new layer overlaps the top edge of the previous layer. My layers are spaced roughly 1 ½” to 2”
apart vertically.

The final row should be even with the
top of the cone. Now take 7 strips of
fabric and cut them in half so that they are 3” long. Fold each strip in half and glue together.

Pin each small loop around the top edge
of the tree.

Using the remaining
uncut ribbon, make a bow and secure it to the top of the tree using pins. Add one more small loop to cover the center
of the bow if desired. Now you are
done!

Use a candleholder or plate to set your
Christmas Tree Tabletop Decoration on as a base. Make two or three Christmas Tree Tabletop
Decorations with different sized cones for a larger tabletop or mantle holiday
decoration.

Merry Christmas!This tutorial if for personal use only and it may not be reproduced or copied in part or whole without my expressed written consent.

Here are a few examples of t-shirts I've made recently. The winner will get to choose the embroidery design and t-shirt blank from the designs and t-shirts I have on hand.

To enter, either go to Southern Holiday Life's website or simply use the Rafflecopter entry below. This contest is open to US residents only and includes shipping to a US address. The winner will be notified on Saturday, December 1st.

Hi! Thanks for stopping by my blog: sewVery. I'm Veronica, a lifelong crafter who has recently rediscovered my love for sewing and making homemade items. Come visit my blog often to see what I've been working on lately or projects that I want to try.